Copyright by, and republished with permission of, Habitat Magazine. The Village Mall at Hillcrest Condominium, a pair of 15-story towers built in Kew Gardens Hills, Queens, in the 1970s, bills itself as a place “Where Neighbors Become Friends.” But a recent court case shows that it’s also a place where friends can become enemies – thanks to the ironclad protections and long life of the Business Judgment Rule. Way back in 1979, unit-owners Sunil and Sabita Banerjee claim they received permission from the condo’s managing agent to enclose the balcony on their apartment, creating a new room. Almost three decades later,… Read more

“Murder (He) Wrote” Did that Suffice for a Conviction? An incarcerated felon asked an inmate in an adjacent cell (whose was days away from release and whose girlfriend faced eviction from her apartment) to kill his wife and mother-in-law and kidnap his children (after he left prison)– in return for which he would be given a house. Detailed written and verbal  information and instructions followed; but the neighboring cellmate informed the authorities and the crime never took place.  Was the felon guilty of attempted murder? Feinman, J. (for the Court) A person is guilty of an attempt to commit a… Read more

Copyright by, and republished with permission of, Apartment Law Insider. Covid-19 has seriously impacted almost every aspect of residential and commercial life in one manner or another—but, as a recent case illustrates,  especially in those situations where a  contemplated timeline for work was obstructed or delayed by governmental edicts that that imposed an involuntary “pause”. There, a landlord needed access to an apartment to complete  a project; the issue wound up before the court; the tenants agreed to vacate the unit for a stipulated period of time to accommodate the work;  the project stalled due to the pandemic; and the… Read more

BKNY1, Inc. (tenant) operated the 132 Lounge on Montague Street in Brooklyn. 132 Capulet Holdings, LLC (landlord) sought an order vacating the Yellowstone injunction in favor of BKNY1 on the  grounds that BKNY1 failed to pay rent for the months of April and May 2020. The Yellowstone injunction was predicated on BKNY1’s representation, made on the record at a hearing, that it had paid (and would continue paying) rent. But BKNY1 failed to pay rent for the months of April and May 2020- claiming that the mandatory closure of BKNY1’s restaurant business during those months by Executive Order No. 202.3… Read more

If a young adult engages in an athletic competition, and is injured while playing, there may be a defense to third-party liability based upon the doctrine of “assumption of risk”. So does that defense protect a property owner where a person drinks to the point of intoxication; trespasses on a construction site; and is injured in a fall? In July 2015, Michael Desroches and his friend, Daniel O’Grady, visited Daniel O’Grady’s brother, Ryan O’Grady, who resided in the Timber Creek subdivision in the Town of Ballston Spa, Saratoga County. The group socialized throughout the evening and consumed alcoholic beverages. After… Read more

By agreement, circumstance or inheritance, residential cooperative or condominium units often end up being owned by several family owners. A “happy family” can only be found on the menu of a Chinese restaurant. So, as two recent cases demonstrate, the family members sometimes end up in a so-called “partition” proceeding in which the Court must decide if the unit should be sold and the parties account for their claims to the proceeds of the sale. Vernon A. Anthony and his brother, Robert S. Anthony, own condominium Unit 1 at 46 President Street in Brooklyn, as tenants in common. Needless to… Read more

A shareholder in a cooperative apartment building on the Upper West Side demolished a deck constructed by an upstairs neighbor because the deck allegedly encroached on his property. The deck had been in place undisturbed for 25 years; the Co-op board directed it not be destroyed; and the demolition of the deck created a dangerous condition by leaving his neighbor with an unprotected back door opening to a steep drop to the ground below. The unsurprising answer was that he was not permitted to exercise the self-help remedy of demolishing the deck. His proper course was to seek relief from… Read more

Question presented: Did a state trooper lack an objectively reasonable suspicion that a crime had occurred or probable cause to stop a vehicle for a traffic infraction such that the automobile stop was unlawful. The Court answered that the stop was unlawful. WILSON, J. (for the court): On the afternoon of November 8, 2014, a New York State Trooper stopped a vehicle on a street in Buffalo. The trooper had observed no traffic violations and saw that the inspection sticker was valid, both of the occupants were wearing their seatbelts, and “everything looked good.” Nevertheless, the trooper ran a check… Read more

Residential leases include warranties of habitability and covenants of quiet enjoyment for the benefit of tenants of the building. But those buildings often need repairs that lead to noise and inconvenience.  And, as a recent case shows, remediation often leads to disputes between the disturbed tenants and the building’s owner. Emily Jerome sued 20 East 67th Street Associates LLC, the owner of a seven-story residential East 67th Street property  and Samson Management, LLC. the managing agent for the building. On January 2, 2019, Jerome moved into apartment 6R under a written one-year lease. The lease ended on January 31, 2020…. Read more

New York Court of Appeals Decides If Clinic Has Liability (On 10/22) Palmer Veterinary Clinic, PC treated Vanilla, a dog, for a paw injury at its clinic. That same day, Marsha Hewitt brought her cat to the clinic for an examination. As Hewitt waited in the reception area, a veterinarian returned Vanilla to her owner in the waiting room; the dog had just undergone a medical procedure to remove a broken toenail. At some point after the veterinarian handed Vanilla’s leash back to her owner, Vanilla saw Hewitt’s cat in its carrier, slipped her collar and—in an apparent attempt to… Read more